Again, Denny Hamlin was booed when he celebrated.
Denny Hamlin, who has won 52 races in the Cup Series, experienced more disapproval and disrespect when he got out of his No. 11 Toyota at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday.
He is both a winner and a villain.
After winning at the famous short track for the second time in a row, Hamlin avoided provoking the unfriendly crowd. Instead of saying, “I just beat your favorite driver,” he simply pointed in all directions to show that he finished first.
Certainly, some of his critics responded with a different gesture.
Despite his increasing number of wins, Hamlin's unpopularity continues. He is getting closer to surpassing Hall of Famers Lee Petty (54) and Rusty Wallace (55) this season, and he has also closed in on Kyle Busch (63) for the most wins by an active driver.
He might already be more disliked than Busch in the NASCAR community.
“I don’t mind it. I really don’t because it’s just noise,” Hamlin said before the race. “There were many moments mid-career where there was just claps; that’s just not a needle mover one way or the other. A lot of it comes with success as well. If you are a contender each and every week, you are going to get more noise typically.”
The negative attention is increasing, and Hamlin understands why. He has had conflicts with two of NASCAR’s most popular drivers: Chase Elliott in 2017 and Kyle Larson last year.
Seven years ago at his hometown track in Martinsville, Virginia, Hamlin caused a strong negative reaction by wrecking Elliott in a playoff race, resulting in Elliott being knocked out of championship contention the following week.
Last May, Hamlin again drew criticism when he called for Elliott to be suspended after he was intentionally wrecked by Elliott in the Coca-Cola 600. Although NASCAR did suspend Elliott, fans blamed Hamlin even though the punishment was consistent with similar incidents.
In July last year at Pocono Raceway, Hamlin forcefully pushed Larson up the track and into the wall while they were battling for the lead. Despite winning, Hamlin was loudly booed when he got out of his car.
“I have had so many altercations with so many popular drivers, and that just kind of fuels it as well,” Hamlin said. “I’ve checked all of the boxes of the things that fans despise. We’ve seen a previous driver (Busch) at Joe Gibbs Racing, he just changes teams and he’s more liked.
“When you’ve got all the things that I’ve got in that box in the negativity checked, you are just going to have to live that life.”
At the season-opening Daytona 500, actor and professional wrestler Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson advised Hamlin to embrace the controversial role, similar to Johnson's return to the WWE.
Dwayne Johnson said that seizing a rare opportunity to be a great villain is crucial.
On Sunday, Hamlin won for the 21st time in the last six seasons, making him the series' top winner during that time.
Hamlin's most recent victory was impressive, as he led 47 of the final 48 laps in a race where tire management was key and JGR dominated.
Hamlin mentioned that his experience in tire-management races at short tracks in the mid-Atlantic, such as South Boston and Martinsville, gave him confidence in his ability to perform well.
After his wins, Hamlin is facing criticism and was seen holding a sword in victory lane, an apt symbol for a villain under attack.
